Another 48 Hrs. (1990) * *

 

Directed by: Walter Hill

Starring:  Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Brion James, Kevin Tighe, Bernie Casey, Ed O' Ross, Andrew Divoff

Another 48 Hrs. reunites Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, and director Walter Hill but forgets to bring along the magic which made the original 48 Hrs. so special.   Another 48 Hrs. reeks of unnecessary sequel.  While it's good for a few moments to see Murphy and Nolte respectively reprise their roles as a streetwise con and a frazzled cop, the plot then takes over and all is lost.   The movie even tries to evoke memories of Albert Ganz, the villain from the first film, by having his biker brother as the heavy seeking revenge.  That doesn't work either. 

Another 48 Hrs. takes place eight years after the original.  Jack Cates (Nolte) has cleaned up his act somewhat and stopped drinking.   He's a little less ornery than in 48 Hrs., but that changes when he's framed for murder while chasing after drug dealers at a race track.   Cates is on the trail of The Iceman, who is purportedly the most powerful drug lord in San Francisco and who Cates is getting close to nabbing.   Once Cates is suspended pending a legal review, he enlists the freshly paroled Reggie Hammond (Murphy), whose bus taking him to freedom is attacked by Cherry Ganz (Divoff) and his biker gang.  Reggie had six months left on his sentence back in 1982, but it seems he had eight years tacked on to his sentence by trying to rob the prison payroll.   This sounds like a contrivance created to explain why Reggie was just released from prison.   

Reggie and Jack squabble and punch each other.   It's as if they were back to square one with mutual distrust involved.   Meanwhile, as they pursue The Iceman, whom Reggie robbed of $500,000 before being tossed in prison, Jack and Reggie develop a lukewarm friendship at best.   We find ourselves not nearly as involved in what's happening and why.   Soon, everything becomes so bewildering that the guys return to Reggie's former prison to ask another inmate where they can find someone.   How does the inmate know?  Who knows?  Once The Iceman's identity is revealed, I asked myself:  Would the biggest drug dealer in the Bay Area have to keep a day job?   

Another 48 Hrs. lacks what made 48 Hrs. so strong.   It even revisits a country/western bar in a similar scene to the one which made Murphy a star in the first film.   The only similarities to that scene in 48 Hrs. is that it's a bar and Eddie Murphy is in the scene.   The entire enterprise is a misbegotten attempt to rekindle whatever spark was created in the first film.